Buffing tool for shoe shanks and soles



May 5, 1936.. 'LAURETT, 39323 BUFFING TOOL FOR SHOE SHANKS AND SOLES Filed April 27, 1935' Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES BUFFING TOOL FOR SHOE SHANKS AND SOLES Piacentino Lauretti, Carlisle, Pa., assignor to Charles A. Wardecker, Carlisle, Pa.

Application April 27, 1935, Serial No. 18,643

11 Claims.

This invention relates to buffers used in the finishing of shoes, and particularly to a buffer designed for use in bufling and polishing the shanks and soles of fine shoes.

In order to bear against and buff the delicate curves of the under face of a shoe shank and of a sole, it is necessary that the bufier should be yielding but firm, and that the sandpaper or emery cloth constituting the face of the buffer should be stretched tightly over the face of the buffer when in use.

The general object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a buffer of this character, which comprises, generally speaking, a mushroom- 15 shaped pad of rubber, a concave-convex sheet of emery cloth adapted to fit over the outer concave face of the pad or core, means for holding the sheet upon the core or pad, and means for supporting the core or pad upon a rotating shaft. 20 A further object is to provide a buffer which will be radially flexible as well as circumferentially flexible and in which the centrifugal force generated by the rapid rotation of the buffer and its shaft will act to urge the margin of the buffer outward or flatten it slightly and thus tighten up on the emery cloth, this expansion of the buffer under centrifugal force rendering it particularly soft and yielding when applied to the shoe, and particularly adapted to fit the delicate curves of the shank and sole of a shoe.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through a buffer constructed according to my invention, the shaft being stationary;

Figure 2 is a like view to Figure l but showing the manner in which the centrifugal action of the shaft urges the margin of the core outward against the emery cloth;

Figure 3 is an inside plan view of the core and the cloth layer thereof before the clamping plate has been put in place;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of core.

Referring to the drawing, I designates a pad or core of soft rubber having a generally concavo-convex form and having a central protuberance or hub II. This protuberance II is ho1- low, as at I2, and there is a central opening is leading through the inner wall of this hub II and opening into the space I2. For supporting this core or pad upon the shaft I4, I provide a head I5 having a screw threaded shank I6 which extends into a screw threaded bore in the shaft I4. This head I5 is shown as being conical in shape. I do not wish to be limited to this exact construction as the hub II might be of other forms and the head I5 cast within the hub. With the construction illustrated, however, it is possible to insert the pointed end of the head I2 through the opening I3 and thus force the head into the core.

Associated with the mushroom-shaped core is a sheet of sandpaper, emery paper or like material. Hereafter I shall refer to this sheet as being of emery cloth, but it is to be understood that any equivalent material of this character may be used. This sheet of emery cloth is molded so that it approximately fits the outer surface of the core I0 and extends down to the peripheral edge of this core. Thus, the sheet H of emery cloth is preferably, as before stated, concavo-convex before it is applied. This covering I! of emery cloth is provided at a plurality of points with radial tabs I8 formed with aper tures I9 adapted to be slipped over the shank I5 of the head I5. In other words, these tabs are brought around the peripheral edge of the core and engaged with this shank.

For the purpose of holding the emery cloth in place securely and exerting a tension upon the tabs, I provide a metallic plate 26 having a somewhat dished-form, that is, provided with the inwardly projecting marginal flange 2!, the center of this plate being apertured for the passage of the screw threaded shank I6. When the emery cloth has been disposed over the face of the core III with the shank passing through the .apertures of the tabs, then the tensioning plate 20 is put in place and then the shank is screwed into the bore of the shaft I4. This presses the plate 20 inward, tightening up on the tabs and drawing inward on the margins of the tabs. In Figure 4, I have illustrated the fact that the core I0 outward of the central hub II may be radially slitted, as at 22. This is for the purpose of securing extreme flexibility for the outer portion of the core, these slits 22 extending inward through the skirt of the concavo-convex core nearly or entirely to the central hub.

When the buffer is at rest, the emery cloth will not fit closely against the flexible margin of the core but as the buffer is rotated at a high speed by the shaft I4, centrifugal force will tend to urge the flexible marginal portion of the core outward, thus slightly flattening the core and placing such a strain upon the emery cloth that the margin of the buffer will fit tightly against the inner face of the emery cloth, thus holding the emery cloth against any tendency to wrinkle. By reason of the fact that the marginal portion of the core and the marginal portion of the emery cloth are forced outward by centrifugal force, an extremely yielding concavo-convex buffer is provided which is sufficiently yielding to fit and take the curvature of any portion of the shoe to which it can be applied and yet which forms a firm support for the emery cloth and provides for a yielding pressure being exerted upon the emery cloth as it is applied to the face of the shank or sole of the shoe.

While I have shown the emery cloth as being pre-formed to have a concavo-convex shape to thus fit approximately closely to the convex'face of the core, I do not wish to be limited to this as the layer of emery cloth might be otherwise formed and caused to fit against thisconvex face by tension of the parts when the emery cloth is put in place.

I have found that a buffer of this character is particularly effective in giving a delicate buffing to those parts 01. a shoe which have delicate curves and surfaces which might be marred by a workman using a buffer whose core was relatively rigid. The parts of the shoe referred to require bumng on a buffing wheel having a convex face but if the core is made as a solid core without the flexible margin shown in my drawing, there will not be a sufficient yielding of the core to prevent too great a buffing and a consequent marring of the surface if the workman does not take particular care. It will be seen that the margin of this buifer is capable of flexing radially as well as circumferentially and thus it will follow the curvature of a member being buffed without cutting through or grinding through the face of the member as it would do if rigid,

While I have heretofore referred to the core as being of soft rubber, I wish it distinctly understood that it might be formed of other materials such as leather or felt. Preferably, however, it will. be of soft rubber as this has an elasticity which will bring it back to its original shape after the shaft has stopped rotating.

.Whatis claimed is:

l. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex core of yielding elastic ma.- terial having its marginal portion free to flex circumferentially and radially, means for mounting the core upon a shaft, and means for holding an outer covering of emery cloth upon the core.

2. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex core of soft rubber having its marginal portion entirely free to flex circumferentially and radially and having a solid centrally disposed hub portion, means for mounting the core upon a shaft, and means for holding an outer covering of emery cloth upon the core.

3. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex core of soft rubber having a central hub portion on its concave face, that portion exteriorly of the core being free to flex a screw threaded shank projecting from this hub portion whereby the core may be mounted upon a shaft for rotation therewith, and means for holding an outer covering of emery cloth upon the outer convex face of the core.

4. A bufferof the character described, including a concavo-convex core of soft rubber having its marginal portion free to expand under centrifugal force and flex inwardly underpressure, means for mounting the core upon a shaft, and means for holding an outer covering of emery cloth upon the convex face of the core.

5. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex core of soft rubber having a central hub upon its concave face, the marginal portion of the core from the central hub to its periphery being free for flexing movement, the marginal portion of the core being radially slitted,

means for mounting the core upon a shaft for rotation therewith, and means for holding an outer covering of emery cloth upon the core.

6. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex core of soft rubber having a central hub upon its concave face and having its marginal portion free to expand under centrifugal force and be flexed inward under presing a concavo-convex core of soft rubber having a central hub upon its concave face and having its marginal portion free to expand under centrifugal force, a screw threaded shank projecting from the inside end of the hub, a concavo-convex layer of emery cloth approximately fitting the convex face of the core and having radial tabs adapted tobe extended inward and apertured for the passage of the shank, a shaft upon which the shank is mounted, and a plate adapted to be disposed between the end of the shaft and the inwardly turned tabs to bear against said tabs to hold the cloth upon the core, the margin of the plate having a flange engageable with the tabs to tighten them as the shank is turned inward on the shaft.

8. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex core of soft and yielding material, having its marginal portion free to flex circumferentially and radially and having a central hub on its concave face, a shank extending inward from the hub and adapted to be engaged with the shaft for rotation therewith, and. means for holding an outer covering of polishing material upon the core.

9. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex member of soft and yielding material having a central hub upon its concave face and having its marginal portion exteriorly of the hub free to flex circumferentially and radially, and a screw threaded shank extending inward from the hub whereby the member may be mounted upon a shaft.

10. A buffer of the character described, including a concavo-convex body of soft and. yielding material having a central hub upon its concave face and having a marginal portion outward of the hub free to flex circumferentially and radially, said marginal portion being provided with radial slits, and a shank extending inward from the .hub whereby the buffer may be mounted upon a shaft.

11. As a covering element for buffers having a core provided with a convex face, a circular sheet of material having a polishing face, the she t being concavo-convex with its polishing face constituting the outer face of the sheet, said sheet having radial tabs, each tab having a perforation, the tabs being adapted to extend inward and overlie each other with their perforations in register. l i i i PIACENTINO LAURE'T 

